


Tea for Q

by Thrilmalia



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: 00Q - Freeform, 00Q Reverse Bang, Fluff, M/M, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 21:54:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9348167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thrilmalia/pseuds/Thrilmalia
Summary: After a mission, James Bond brings Q tea and that soon turns into a tradition.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [swtalmnd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/swtalmnd/gifts), [Rigel99](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rigel99/gifts).



> This is part of the 00Q Reverse Big Bang 2016/17.  
> It was lot of fun for me and I had a wonderful artist, Amy. She´s a very talented and nice person.  
> And I want to give a shoutout to Gráinne, my beta. Thank you for your help.
> 
> And thank you for reading my story.

It was especially rainy and cold that evening. Q’s clothes were soaked and there was no brighter hope for him than the lights of his apartment and the thought of being warm and alone with his cats in a few minutes. At least that’s what he expected.

Eventually, he opened the door with trembling fingers and let his bag drop to the floor. The wet jacket and blazer followed and he was only in his jeans and button-down shirt when he stepped into the living room. He hesitated, something was different. Usually, the cats would greet him at the door but now they kept absolute silence. Someone was here,  
in his apartment.

Alert, he grabbed the gun he hid in a drawer in the hallway and loaded it before reaching for the light switch. The intruder seemed to hear the quiet click, because Q heard a familiar voice saying: “No need for that, Q.” Quickly he turned on the light, ready to fight everyone he would see. Well, nearly everyone. Just not him.

Out of surprise he dropped the gun and gasped. “Bond!” The agent just smiled and stood up from the stool by the kitchen counter, acting as if he didn't just break into his co-worker’s place. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Well, I was waiting here for you.”

“What? Why? Shouldn't you be in Sri Lanka?” Secretly, Q was glad to see James unharmed and smiling smugly at him, but he was also confused, he couldn't figure out why Bond would come to him, especially when he had a mission on the other end of the world.

“I finished the mission early and thought I could pay you a small visit. Oh, and…” He bent down and picked the gun up. “You shouldn´t throw your gun away when there´s an intruder in your apartment.”

“Thanks”, Q said despite his bugged out look and took the gun from the agent´s hands. “You still didn´t explain why you´re here, James. Do I have to be worried about you?”  
James laughed, turned around and walked back to the table, where something lay. Q was curious and followed him, nearly colliding with him when he turned around. In his hands he held a small box with a blue bow wrapped around it. Q gave James a questioning look, whereupon he said: “This is for you, I bought it in Sri Lanka.”  
With a raised eyebrow Q took it and held it up to see what it was. It was original Ceylon tea, one of the best kinds of the world, Q knew that.

“Thank you. That is... unexpectedly nice of you.”

He really was grateful, and he smiled at James. Then his expression suddenly turned into a knowing look and he continued, “Is this an attempt to ask for forgiveness because you destroyed another weapon or car of mine?”

“No, absolutely not. I just thought, one should be nice to their quartermaster since he keeps them alive. And maybe one gets an exploding pen…”, James answered, grinning smugly.

Later that evening, after James eventually confessed that he indeed broke some of Q´s inventions and they had drunk some of the sweet Sri Lankan tea, James stayed at Q´s apartment and slept on the couch. The next day they went to work together, which naturally attracted some attention and led to gossip going around. The gossip was fuelled every time the agent returned from a mission, because he would always visit Q and bring him tea from wherever he had been. Eventually, Q got used to it and waited for him at night, sometimes even picking him up from the airport. The colleagueship turned to friendship and after Bond returned home, he would sit with Q and they would drink tea and talk and joke around until late into night.

 

It had been a year since James first brought Q tea after a mission. Bond, who was currently hiding behind a parked car in Germany, as well as Q, who was listening to his fast-paced breathing, was nervous. Suddenly, gunshots were heard and the quartermaster waited for a sign of the agent. A hiss, then: “Q…”

“I´m here, Bond.”

“Listen, if something… happens to me, you have to come here and get my things.”

“Yes, of course, but…”, answered Q, a bit confused, but mostly just hoping nothing would happen.

“No, I mean you, and just you, Q. Nobody else. Do you promise me that?”

“Uh, yes. Of course. I promise.”

“Thank you.”

Bond moved from behind the car and fired off a few shots, before he wanted to start running towards the enemy, but the voice in his ear stopped him. “James. Please don´t make me come to Germany, okay? Come back on your own. Promise?”

“I´ll do my best”, came the response after a few seconds and the agent started running, fighting one enemy after the other.

Another 24 sleepless hours later, James dropped tiredly on the hotel bed while back in London, Q went to get another coffee. “Congratulations, another mission accomplished. What now?”

“Get me a seat on the next plane to London.”

“Don´t you want to sleep a night first and then come back? You have slept very few in the last days.”

“Says the guy in my ear that spends all this time with me. I´m coming home now. Will sleep on the plane.”

Admitting that Bond was right, Q made sure he could come home as quickly as possible and finally turned his computer off. Just as the agent´s plane was ready to be boarded, Q turned off the lights in his workplace and was ready to head home. “I´ll see you soon,” Q smiled and passed a co-worker, who was guiding another agent through his mission, with a friendly nod. Half an hour later, after he nearly fell asleep on the tube, he finally was home and warm. In approximately one to two hours James would be here, so Q decided to wait up for him.

But after feeding the cats, when he sat down on the couch with scrambled eggs, he soon fell asleep without even touching his meal. He only came back to consciousness when he felt muscular arms lift him from the uncomfortable position in which he had been sleeping.

“James?”, he mumbled, his eyes not yet open.

“Yes, it´s me. You didn´t have to wait for me, you could have gone to sleep.”

Q didn´t answer at first, but opened his eyes and wiggled a bit, trying to get out of Bond´s hold. “Let me down, James.”

“As you wish”, the agent answered and slowly let him down so that the younger man would stand in front of him. He was awake now and let out a sigh at the sight of the dirty and slightly ripped suit.

“You want tea?” he asked, deciding to scold him later, when both of them got enough sleep.

“Yes, thank you. I´m sorry, I didn´t bring you any tea from Berlin, I hadn´t time for that. But you still have some of that Indian Darjeeling, right?”, the agent answered and followed Q to the kitchen.

The dark haired man nodded and took said tea from a cupboard while the water boiled. The mood was comfortable and calm and suddenly Q had a question burning on his tongue and he felt like it was the right time to ask.

“James, do you know that pretty much a year ago you first brought me tea? It was from Sri Lanka, the sweet monk tea. Why did you do that? And why did you continue?”

“You see”, the answer quickly came, but Q didn´t look at James, but at the kettle, and when he turned around, he was surprised to see the taller man so close to him. Their faces were only inches apart and Q was suddenly getting nervous. “Because I like you.”

He lowered his head a bit and Q could feel his breath on his face. “Very much, actually.”

Q just closed his eyes and felt the other man´s lips on his as he closed the gap and kissed him. One of the quartermaster´s slim hands laid on the agent´s cheek and the other was wrapped around his neck, while James had his arms around Q´s waist.

They broke the kiss and both smiled at each other, before Q whispered: “I like you, too.”

With that still ringing in James´s ears, they kissed again, until the tea was ready and they sat down on the couch together, relaxing. This time, they talked less and just cuddled and kissed. Eventually, both went to bed and slept for hours in each others’ arms.

The next day, when they finally arrived at Riverhouse, and James went to Medical while Q looked over his branch, both were more light-hearted than they had been in a long time. When Bond was finished, he brought Q some tea to his desk, which he put next to his computer before stealing a kiss. And when R and some other technicians saw that tender moment, that was the day when all the gossip stopped because everyone knew what was going on.


End file.
